In Haley's Opinion
by jessid111590
Summary: An offshoot to Consequences. A two shot. How Haley feels about Emily and Aaron told through flashbacks of the couple.


In Haley's Opinion

***AN: I know everyone is waiting for more on Consequences, Meeting You, and Red Silk but I've currently developed a small touch of writer's block (it started around Thanksgiving). I'm hoping that this little twoshot (that does go with Consequences) will help me get over it. I was thinking about this since Christmas is currently three days away. This story is mostly going to be told in flashbacks of Haley's POV. Hope you like it and hopefully it gets me out of this little funk. Season 6 episodes. Please Review!***

Haley watched the newly formed family through the bay window in their new home. She watched as her son, Jack, play with his seven month old triplet siblings on the carpet. She also watched her ex-husband and his new and pregnant again wife place ornaments on their freshly bought Christmas tree.

"This is the life that I wanted for him after I was gone," she thought as she watched Emily reach down and pick up her seven month old son.

She had watched many moments between Aaron and Emily, even a few alone without the other, but this year she was certain that everything was going to be perfect for the family decorating their Christmas tree in front of her. Sure, there would be ups and downs but nothing that would derail the friendship and love between them.

_Four days after her funeral_

_Knock, Knock_

"_Who is it?" Aaron asked as he headed for the front door._

"_It's Emily," Emily said as she waited for her boss to open the door._

"_What are you doing here? Didn't you guys just get in from that case?" Aaron asked as Emily set a bag of food in his hands._

"_Thought that you and Mister Jack could use a little company," Emily said as she took in what the littlest Hotchner was watching; old family videos. "We got in this morning."_

"_Thank you but you didn't have to do that," Aaron said as Emily walked farther into the living room._

"_It was no problem. I wanted to, not to mention you'll probably have at least one of the team members stopover in the next couple days," Emily said as she waved at Jack before sitting in one of the recliners. "Sit down and eat. I got you Chinese and Jack a happy meal."_

"_Really, Prentiss, you didn't have to do that," Aaron said as he handed Jack his food._

"_And like I said, Hotch, it was no problem," Emily said as she watched him back away from a confrontation._

Haley had to laugh when thinking about that day. She had known that it was going to be Emily or Dave that would stop over to make sure that everything was ok with her family. Emily had been right about other members of the team showing up as well, each person took one day to spend with Aaron and Jack. Emily and Dave had continued to make sure that they were alright for almost two months after her death; even with Jessica being there to help out.

_One year later_

_Emily had become a steady rock for Aaron and Jack but she couldn't be there to help Jack today. _

"_Hey, can you sign off on this?" Emily asked Rossi._

"_What is it?" Rossi asked as he looked over the file in his hand._

"_Seaver's transfer request, Hotch electronically okayed it but I need a signature before I turn it into Strauss," Emily said as she showed him Hotch's email saying that it was ok. "How are things going at home for him?"_

"_I'll give my ok for this until Hotch gets back," Rossi said as he signed the paper. "Jack's been having nightmares."_

"_Mmm. Ok, I'm going to turn this into Strauss and then get started on the mountain of paperwork on my desk," Emily said as she walked out of his office._

_Two days and one politician in jail later, Emily was finally headed over to Hotch's place to make sure that everything was ok._

"_Emily, how nice to see you again," Jessica said when she opened the door._

"_How are they doing, Jessica?" Emily said as she handed Haley's sister three bags of takeout. _

"_They've had better days," Jessica said as they both walked into the living room. "Aaron, Emily brought food again."_

"_Thanks, Prentiss," Hotch said in his dismissive tone._

"_No problem," Emily said as Jessica began to dole out the food._

When Haley thought about all the Emily had done for Aaron and Jack, she was always brought back to this day. The one day that Emily could have said to hell with being a friend to Aaron but instead the woman just kept coming back.

_The day Emily went after Doyle_

_Emily, after hearing Penelope's voicemail, wanted nothing more than to head back to the BAU and her family; but she knew that if she did someone, most likely one of them, was going to be killed because of her. She refused to let it happen. She also knew that Doyle would go after Jack because he resembled Declan, so much as a little boy, and that was something she didn't want to happen. Hotch had already lost enough. There was no way that he would survive if he lost Jack to a madman. So Emily did what she had to do to keep her family safe. After being stabbed with the table leg, Emily knew that she had shown Doyle that her family wasn't to be messed with. She heard Derek's voice telling her to hold on but she felt cold and she could make out her grandfather's chateau in France coming closer._

Haley remembered that day all too well. That was the day she thought that she was going to meet Emily Prentiss on the heavenly plane.

_After five hours of surgery, Emily was waiting to talk to JJ in the recovery room. She knew that she was going to have to go underground._

"_Who else is going to know about this?" Emily asked as the nurse brought in her pain shot. "I'll call you once I'm ready for that."_

"_Em, you should really take the pain meds," JJ said as she sat next to her best friend. "I had to tell Hotch."_

"_I'll take them after we are done talking," Emily said as she let the rest of what JJ said settle in her mind. "What exactly did you tell him?"_

"_That you are alive and that you have to go underground until we find Doyle," JJ said as she watched Emily. "I should go. I'll be in contact soon about getting you out of the country."_

"_Ok," Emily said as she called for the nurse._

Haley could see the hurt on Emily's face when JJ told her that she had told Aaron. She also knew that Emily was trying to save him from wondering exactly why she had done what she did.

_After Emily's funeral_

_Aaron still couldn't believe that Emily had gone after Doyle to save the team; her make shift family. He hated that he had to keep a major secret from their family but it had to be done until Doyle was gone. He had yet to think about what to tell Jack but knew that he was going to have to figure something out soon; Emily had been a regular over to their house at least once a week since Haley was killed. After laying his white rose on Emily's coffin, Aaron headed over to where Haley was buried._

"_What am I supposed to tell our son?" Aaron asked out loud. "Emily has been a major part of his life for the last year and a half."_

_Aaron just listened to the wind as he sat on the bench in front of Haley's grave._

"_Why didn't she come to me to help her?" Aaron asked as Dave sat down next to him._

"_She was trying to protect us, you mostly. You saw the picture of Doyle's son and how much he looked like Jack when he was that age. She knew what Doyle would do and knew that you wouldn't survive if anything happened to Jack," Dave said. "Aaron, you can't keep beating yourself up over something that was ultimately Emily's decision. As for telling Jack, the only thing that I can say would be to tell him the truth."_

Haley's heart went out to her ex-husband that day. Both he and Jack had lost a friend, even if it was just for a few months. She knew that Aaron was going to wonder why Emily had done what she had done until he was able to ask her when she was able to come home.

_Hotch as grief assessor_

"_Derek, can you come up to my office?" Hotch called from the walkway._

_Derek knew that it was his turn to have Hotch gauge his grief about Emily's death. Hotch had talked to the others first because he knew that Derek was taking her death the hardest; since he was the one who held her as she died._

_After talking to Derek for a few minutes, Hotch had made his assessment that Derek was still in the anger stage of grief._

"_Derek, you're still angry," Hotch said as he watched Derek's face contort into anger yet again._

_"Yes, sometimes I want to quit my job and chase down the son of a bitch who killed Emily," Derek barked. "You're damn right I'm angry!"_

"_It's understandable," Hotch said as he nodded his head at Derek._

"_If only I had gotten to her sixty seconds sooner, she might still be alive," Derek said as he looked at Hotch. "She was my friend. I lost my friend right in front of me. And I'm supposed to go on like nothing happened? What about you who do you turn to for your grief?"_

_Two hours later after writing up his grief assessments of his team, Hotch turned the paperwork into Section Chief Strauss._

"_Agent Hotchner, your assessments are not complete," Strauss said as she looked at the file._

"_Why aren't they?" Hotch asked as he stared back at the section chief._

"_There is no grief assessment here for you," Strauss said as she caught his stare._

_She then understood that they were alike when it came to talking about their grief to another person._

Haley knew that Dave was one of the two people that Aaron would talk about his grief with, the other was supposedly dead. She also knew that Aaron couldn't talk to Dave this time though because he might slip up and say something about Emily not being dead.


End file.
